Crush
by maddzroks
Summary: The gang is seven months away from graduating and Tish is finding it harder and harder to keep her (gay) feelings for Lor. hidden Will Tish end up confessing to Lor! (probably) Will Lor feel the same way! (it's safe to assume) read find out!
1. Chapter 1

The drunk footsteps that had followed them home served a catalyst for the current conversation. The blue walls and slanted ceiling of Tino's all too familiar bedroom hadn't changed much in the five years since seventh grade.

"That's what I like about us," the skinny blonde began, "We're constant." "Elaborate please" added Carver, not understanding the odd conversation starter. Tino sighed, "I just mean that we've always been the same, none of us ever got into...THAT."

Lor snorted "Hah! You mean that MESS of a next door neighbor you got? Why would u ever want to get that messed up bro?" The athletic girl leaned on the stairs leading up to Tino's bed. It was late, they'd stayed out at funville shooting pool until it closed. It wasn't until they were about halfway to Tino's that their tail appeared. Tino had immediately recognized him as Chad, his party boy neighbor. His footsteps were uneven and every now and then the group heard giggles and the occasional hiccup from behind them.

Tino shook his head at Lor's question, "You got me" he said, "but that's why I like us, we're all on the same page. Connected and familiar, you know?"

He smiled at his friends. The group had stayed the same, close knit bunch they started as in middle school, and now halfway through their senior year they all still liked each other.

"CRAP!" The panicked yell interrupted the comfortable silence they'd found and made the rest of the group jump a little. "It's midnight!" Carver shrieked, "Oh my god my parents are going to literally _kill_ me, sorry guys! I gotta split! See you later!" He shouted already halfway down the stairs nearly running into Tino's mom. "Sorry Ms. T!" He said dashing out the door.

She smiled and continued her walk upstairs eventually leaning on the doorframe. "I was just going to say the same thing," she started, "as much as I love a bunch of teenagers in my house at midnight, a mom has her limits". Lor and Tish stood up gathering their things "No problem Ms. Tonitini." Tish smiled as she walked out the door with Lor close behind. Tino's mom followed the pair down the stairs and watched them walk outside. They thanked her and went on their way. "Be careful on your walk home girls!" She called closing the door behind them.

—

The night was brisk. Despite living on the coast, winter was still cold. And though a bit chilled, the two girls happily welcomed it as they could see their breath.

Lor pretended to hold a cigarette between her fingers. "So miss," she sucked in, "A fine dame like yourself come here often?" she said exhaling and letting the warmth from her mouth imitate smoke floating and disappearing into the night sky. Tish laughed blowing into her hands. Because the day had been warm, she didn't think to bring a jacket, and as a result she was stuck walking home wearing only her cardigan and skirt. She folded her arms tucking her hands underneath her armpits so as to keep all her fingers in tact. The walk wasn't that far, but one can never be too careful.

Lor turned to Tish, "Can you believe that guy today?"

"You mean the drunk one?" Tish asked.

Lor playfully socked her shoulder, "Duh!"

Tish chuckled a bit and continued, "It really is odd that you'd want to do that to yourself, he's not even going to remember anything from tonight, seems like a waste.."

Lor laughed, "And not mention how bad he's gonna feel that tomorrow!" They both giggled filling the air with puffs of white.

Lors house came quicker than either of them wanted, and before walking in, Lor added, "I agree with Tino though, I'm glad we're the same." She smiled and stepped inside waving to Tish on her way, but before she closed the door, she immediately turned around smacking her forehead. "Holy shit you're probably cold oh my god!" She began taking off her worn red hoodie and putting it on Tish. The redhead opened her mouth about ready to protest before she was cut off. "You can't argue because I'm literally on my doorstep AND you know I have, like, seventy jackets" Tish smiled and looked at the ground, "Thanks" she said zipping it up. Lor gave her a toothy grin and a wink, "No problem." She smiled and stepped back inside giving another wave.

Tish frowned then thinking back on Lor's comment before the jacket. Were they really the same? She knew for a fact that she wasn't. Tino knew she wasn't. Carver knew she wasn't. Five years is a long time. Especially when you're a malleable, growing teenager. For example you can start doing things you hadn't before, like watching your friend play basketball during gym just a touch longer than normal. Like trying to memorize the way her bangs stick to her sweaty forehead and cheeks, stealing glances each and every time she lifts her shirt up to wipe her face, feeling your own grow hot at the sight of abs sculpted by relentless physical activity. Like buying flannels because you know she likes boys in them, so why not you too? Like offering to help her paint her nails for prom just so you have an excuse to hold her hands. Like smelling the jacket she just let you borrow. Like completely and totally falling for one of your closest friends.

Tish knew she liked Lor. She had since eighth grade. Her quest to find a crush in seventh grade complete with interviews led her to believe there simply wasn't a boy-or man-who was her type at that time. She accepted that not having a crush was okay and patiently waited for the right boy to come around.

But after she continuously felt nothing for boys who were attractive or smart or seemingly "her type" she began to dig deeper. Being an analytical person she googled "What does a crush feel like" and the usual came up. Butterflies. Anxiousness. Not being able to stop thinking about them. And slowly she pieced together why she couldn't find a boy to crush on. It was the wrong gender entirely.

It had been minimal, but she felt those so called butterflies for the first time when the whole group went to see Gladiator IV the Beginning of the End. As cliché as it might've been, Tish's hand brushed against Lor's while reaching for popcorn, and in that moment her stomach jumped. and she imagined the two of them, fingers interlocked.

Thanks to Google's wonderful description of a crush, in that dark movie theatre everything Tish had been brushing off pieced itself together. No it wasn't platonic to want to give your friend a kiss on the cheek when telling her goodbye. Thinking more than once about spending time alone with her so you could maybe hold her hand wasn't just a 'friend thing'. The popcorn gesture was nothing to Lor, simply a bump of pinky fingers, but for Tish, it was the entire realization that she was crushing on not only a close friend, but a girl.

Although she felt better understanding her feelings completely, her first thought was that confessing was not and would never be an option. Having accepted these feelings, she was now in charge of keeping them secret until they faded. Years later she was proud at how well she'd followed through with her original plan but worried about how the 'fading' part simply refused to happen. Lor had no idea, and no matter the fact that every passing day the task seemed exponentially more difficult, Tish wasn't sure she could keep the secret for seven more months.

She was home now, the windows dark as her parents were asleep long ago. She quietly unlocked the door, took her shoes off and went to her room. Flopping onto the bed, she shut her eyes and tried to distract herself by groggily grabbing a random Shakespeare play. But even forcing herself to read didn't take her mind off of Lor. Lor this and Lor that. It never ended. Though most of the time it wasn't simply thought but rather fantasies that kept Tish awake at night. She'd never admit it, but she really was the queen of fantasizing, five years of practice helps.

It seemed that now they came without Tish even needing to try. They were more frequent these past few months compared to so many years ago.

' _That's probably why it's even harder to keep myself under control,'_ she thought, _'but I can't tell anyone. I can't, I promised Tino and Carver.'_

Tish's resolve was only so strong, freshman year she let the boys know how she was feeling and unsurprisingly they mirrored her thoughts.

If she confessed, it could potentially ruin the group dynamic. Though unlikely, Lor's reaction could be negative, and with only four people in their group, it'd be difficult to diffuse the tension. Plus, to everyone's knowledge, Lor was straight. She liked Thompson.

' _Oh right,'_ Tish remembered. Lor and Thompson had started dating the beginning of sophomore year and were still going strong.

Really it was for the best. If Lor was taken, it only further enforced the 'No Confession' rule. She and Thompson complemented each other, shared interests and could match one another in sports making great competition. Besides, Tish had always bet on meeting a nice, bookish girl in college. Maybe one that wasn't so...distracting.

Lor had recently gotten into bro tanks, and within a week her collection went from zero to thirteen. Winter didn't stop her, and because of all her sports, every muscle was well defined and rock solid. With nothing but a sports bra underneath, Tish's eyes had wandered more than once into the giant arms holes...

She shook her head. This was the final stretch. Another seven months and she was home free, the whole group would go off to college, and she'd have some time to breathe. She honestly couldn't wait because as things were now, she found the action difficult every time she was alone with the blonde. Sighing the redhead sat up and turned her light off not bothering to change into pajamas and thinking to herself _'I'll shower in the morning'._


	2. Chapter 2

Tish was woken up by the vibration of her phone, it seemed to be going non-stop and now that she was awake she could guess why: the group message. Apparently they had been trying to make plans to go to the beach since seven. The redhead glanced over at her clock reading '9:45'.

 _'How the heck was everyone awake that early?'_ She thought, appalled at the idea seeing as they had all stayed up past midnight. The phone buzzed again.

TINO: ok well when Tish wakes up she'll read it, let's do beach at ten, meet at my place?

CARVER: sounds good

LOR: see u losers there

Tish decided not to reply and instead focus on getting breakfast.

' _The beach huh? Guess I won't worry about showering,'_ she thought. _'I wonder if they've even looked at the weather for today,'_ she shook her head and chuckled to herself ' _who am I kidding'_.

"Tish, you made it!" Carver said after opening the door to Tino's, "We weren't sure." Tish laughed "I was just surprised at how the rest of you were awake so early!" Tino handed her a towel lowering his voice, "Honestly it's a wonder to me how Lor was even _functioning_ before 10:00." The two giggled softly and then turned to help the others with any bags. As the four of them filed out of the door Tino called, "See you later mom!" Which was met with a "Have a great day sweetie!" echoing from the kitchen.

Their walk to the beach was hot. Though it wasn't even noon the temperature had already climbed to ninety degrees.

"I can't...I can't make it" Lor gasped pretending to melt on the sidewalk, "Leave without me! I'll only slow you down" she said collapsing onto her knees. Carver ran to her, kneeling and outstretching a hand. Deepening his voice his said, "No man gets left behind, and that includes you McQuarry. We're making it to the beach together or we'll DIE TRYING!" Tish giggled and added bending to grasp Carver's arm, "But commander! The ship is leaving as we speak!" As they continued their charade in the middle of the sidewalk, Tino rolled his eyes, "Today please," he said dryly.

"But seriously though," Lor said standing up, "I'm, like, hot as hell, so I'm gonna take my shirt off okay? Swimsuit underneath!" The rest nodded, "Whatever" Carver said with a flick of his hand.

Lor then removed the mint and black striped tank revealing a bright red new bikini top. She released a sigh of relief, "Okay you guys need to try this because I feel recharged!" She ran up next to Tish playfully tugging on the other girls shirt. "C'mooon be bikini buddies with me Tish!" Lors fingers grazed the taller girl's stomach and Tish whipped around, face ablaze, "N-no thanks!" Tish nearly yelled. Tino and Carver turned to gave her a 'Why are you so loud?' kind of look. Tish let go of the bottom of her shirt she had apparently been pulling down, "Sorry haha I just want to wait until we, uh, get to the beach!" She explained more to Tino and Carver than Lor as she found she couldn't meet the other girl's eyes. She then quickly gave Lor a half smile and jogged to walk with the boys.

The sand was nearly searing, and thus the second their shoes were off, the entire group sprinted into the ocean. They did chicken fights, the obligatory splash war that any self respecting teenager wouldn't dare skip over, and a picnic around three. Following that, a wave of complete lethargy hit Lor.

"She looks like somebody clocked her," Carver laughed.

The athletic blonde was sprawled out on the towel in a position that looked anything but remotely comfortable. Laughing along with him, Tish looked to her friend, "Aw let her be Carver." At that comment Tino and Carver exchanged glances raising their eyebrows. Tino smirked, "Don't you know Carver? Ms. Katsufrakis here must defend her crush's honor while she's knocked out!" Carver acted surprised, "Good lord you're right!" He bent down to Lor's unconscious face, "My apologies."

The two then smiled at Tish, "No harm done Ms. Katsufrakis." Tish rolled her eyes and gave them both punches muttering, "Shut up."

Carver put his hands up, "Oh hey hey, we're not the ones being Captain Obvious over here!"

Tino laughed, "Seriously Tish, that whole pass up on the bikini buddies would have been fine if not for the…" He looked to the taller boy, "The literal smoke coming off of your red hot face?" He asked Tino.

"Oh yes exactly that!" Tino smiled.

Tish bit the inside of her lip and looked slightly panicked, "She-she didn't notice right? I mean for real?"

Tino frowned, "Geez Tish no it's all good."

"We just have to tease you about it!" Carver added, "I mean we don't get many chances, and she's out cold."

Tish looked at both of them. Teasing was, after all, much better than disdain. "Alright, you guys are right, I get it," she smiled.

"Wait!" Tino screeched. He leapt up from the towels, "The SUN is SETTING. We have to go watch it from THE ROCK!" He kicked Lor awake earning a somewhat groggy as well as irritated sounding "..what?" Tino began again, "The. Rock. Only the best place in Bahia bay to watch sunsets! But we gotta hurry, it's already started!"

The sky had been painted orange and pink, fluffy white clouds carried shadows of navy with them "The...Rock," Carver repeated to Tish and Lor "Of course. How could I ever forget?" He continued sarcastically. Lor added, "With such an official name, it's gotta be real!" Tish laughed, "Aw c'mon guys, let him have this one," the other two smirked. "Alright alright," Carver shook his head and then ran after Tino. "Hey T, slow down brother! Remind me where this rock is..."

Tish glanced to her right, "So...are we going to run as well?" she asked Lor. The blonde laughed, "Duh".

Tish watched Carver fold his arms, "Well it's definitely here," he looked over at Tino who was heaving from running all the way over.

"Too bad we missed the sunset." The skinny blonde stood upright, "W-well" he started. "We got to see it on our way!"

He then sat down on one of the nearby rocks, his legs shaky from the jog. Tish remembered how he never did fill out that much. Puberty didn't do much for Tino besides lower his voice, though that didn't stop his notorious 'squeaky squeal'. She laughed to herself and took a seat next to him. "It was pretty great," she smiled. He returned the gesture, "See?" He told Carver, " _Some_ body gets it..." He trailed off looking around, "Hey, where did Lor go?".

Despite literally running over with her, Tish hadn't realized that the athletic girl had left. Carver's sarcasm and constant roasting of Tino distracted her. "I'll go look for her!" She said. Tino and Carver exchanged looks, "Are you sure?" Tino began, "It's dark outside, you could get lost," Carver finished. Tish had realized that if she did find Lor, she'd get one on one time her and while nothing would happen between them, _obviously_ , it was still rare and something worth risking getting lost in the forest for. She looked at the two "I'll be fine! I do after all have the best directorial skills of the group. Besides, if you two stay at the Rock, it'll serve as a checkpoint!" She grinned and then ran off not giving the boys time to protest. Carver sighed, "Got any cards, T?" Tino already had a deck out, "Is that even a question?"


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing that told Tish not to join Lor when she found her was the sound of soft crying. The second was the fact that the particular rock Lor had chosen to sit on was in fact extremely difficult for one to get to-especially when that one was a dulcimer playing, lanky girl who was only rivaled by Tino for most unathletic.

Yet despite the signs, Tish still decided to try and climb on over, and it was hard. It was really hard, and though she didn't expect anything less, the immediate fatigue that set in her body was more than a little surprising. She made a mental note to be more active from now on. The rock was high and required serious climbing to get on top of, the kind of climbing where once you started, you _had_ to keep going because getting down was just as difficult as going up. When she was about halfway Lor peaked her head over the side, frantically wiping away her tears "Tish?!" Panting, the red head answered, "H-hey Lor."

"Dude what did you think you were doing!?" Lor shouted pulling the taller girl up the side of rock. She began scolding Tish never mind the fact that the only reason Tish was climbing was because a certain blonde had decided to straight up _leave_ the group without warning _at night_. But nevertheless, Tish listened about how 'rock climbing is dangerous' and 'you could've gotten so hurt' and 'why'd you make worry like that, bro?". And when she was done Tish asked, "Are you alright Lor?" The other girl's eyes widened. "Uh, dumb question? Of course?" Lor had always been a bad liar, she suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands and they started rubbing over each other, diving into her pockets, fiddling with her hair, all the signs Tish knew very well.

The redhead went to sit next to her friend, legs dangling off the edge of the rock. "You know I left Tino and Carv behind," she laughed. Lor looked at her "What?! Why?" Tish returned the glance and for a moment got caught up in the brown eyes looking into her own green ones. She cleared her throat and looked away "So we'd have a meeting place, duh". "Ohhh, makes sense". The two sat for a bit listening to the night breeze. Neither motioning to get up.

Tish decided to break the silence after a couple minutes. "I heard you crying," she said softly. She placed her hand tentatively on the other girls thigh and asked again, "Are you alright, Lor?" After moments of quiet she looked over at the blonde surprised to see silent tears running down her face. She moved her hand from Lor's thigh to her opposite shoulder, pulling her close. "...Lor..?"

The blonde sniffled, wiped her eyes and sat upright, Tish's hand retracting into her own lap. "I just..." Lor began, "I...I'm eighteen right?" Tish nodded, "Yeah?" Lor sniffled again, "Then why do I care so much about what my parents think?!" She looked over at Tish, "Listen...I...there's something about me that...that they don't like," she took a shaky breath "And I-! I don't even know if I'm sure about it but, but even if I am I can't change it and-" she stopped, the feeling of Tish's hand on her shoulder ended her sentence.

"I think I know how you feel." Tish said. She removed her hand and started swinging her legs, her cheeks growing hot and she averted her glance. "I finally found a crush! But, well, the thing is, it's not who I thought it was going to be. And I mean that in the most general sense...basically I'm...I'm crushing on a girl."

She stopped, took a couple deep breaths and continued, "And you know I've really liked her for a long time, and I was so so worried to tell my parents I got anxious thinking about it because I didn't know what they would think but Lor," the blonde looked into her eyes "T-they didn't care! I mean they did, they were, they were happy for me! And I just, don't want you to feel bad or worried because I think things will be okay you know and-" "Do you like me?"

The question threw the redhead off entirely, and her eyes locked with Lor's. "W-what?" Lor giggled "Sorry, sorry I just...I kinda thought for a while and with what you just said I figured I'd ask, but this is probably totally uncomfortable for you, huh?"

Tish was trying to process the words, 'Thought for a while!? Was I that obvious? What had given me away? The ab glances? The love poems? No no I'd thrown those away; they never left my room...unless Lor saw them _before_ I threw them away but in that case-!' "Tish...you're thinking out loud." Lor said a little uncomfortably.

And there it was. The point of no return. There was absolutely no going back, even if she'd been able to deny it, it didn't matter now. But before she could respond Lor began again. "It's alright," she smiled. "That's...exactly what I was going to talk about. I mean not you having a crush on me but me having a crush on a girl." She played with her thumbs stroking one over the other, one over the other, one over the other and then sighed. Her eyes looked from Tish to her hands and she inhaled, "Thompson and I broke up."

Tish's eyebrows rose "What!?" She exclaimed, "When!? I-I'm so sorry Lor!"

The blonde leaned back on her hands and looked Tish giving her a reassuring smile, "It happened last year," Tish's eyes widened, "I know, I know, why didn't I tell you guys? See I was going to but it's complicated and well..." She trailed off and Tish waited. Inhale, exhale.

"See I really liked Thompson I mean I know that, but when we finally got together, we just didn't really feel anything. I mean even when we kissed...nothing. We never made out or anything, and when I was with him I kinda found myself thinking about, uhm, thinking about Nona." Lor stopped, looking for something from Tish, but all she got was a pair of eyes patiently waiting for the next sentence.

"And that was weird because why her you know? Why a _girl_ first of all when I thought I was straight? But it turns out I wasn't the only one who realized they play for both teams. I decided to tell Thompson because we both hadn't really been vibing anyway and the second I did he said he'd been crushing on dude! Can you believe it?! And here's the seriously crazy part," she leaned in close to the redhead making her face redden slightly "it was Carver!"

Tish gasped and started to laugh, "No way!" Lor smiled along, "Oh yes way hahah! And so we were both like 'Yo, go get your crush, and we did!' I got rejected by Nona, but she was nice about it, and I'm not sure what happened with him and Carv, but we're better as bros anyway." She stopped and looked at Tish who wore a puzzled look, "What?" The athletic girl asked, confused by the expression. Tish responded, "Well that's all good but why didn't you tell us?"

Lor yelled "OH." She grimaced, "Yeah well, I told my 'rents not really thinking about it. They're just so supportive of everything I just, uh, assumed they'd be cool, but they weren't."

She paused for moment her eyebrows furrowing, "Um, they really scolded the hell outta me Tish I mean they hit me with all the 'gays are going to hell' kinda stuff. 'It's an abomination, it's unnatural, you need to reconsider this _choice_ ' the whole nine yards."

Tish tried to give the blonde a comforting look but Lors eyes were glued to the ground in front of her. "It hurt man. I mean it's not like they kicked me out or anything, you know but the way they talked about it just...I don't know I started to think maybe there really was something wrong with me. But uh, then I started realizing you more. I'm usually hella oblivious, but I saw the way your hands would shake when I'd get close to your face and how you'd have to keep yourself from holding my hands when I'd hug you from behind and stuff."

'Oh boy' Tish thought-careful to keep it to herself this time 'Why are we back to this?' She stood up to stop Lor from whatever else she was going to say. She was always so blatant about things, and Tish was sure she didn't realize just how much she was embarrassing her, but regardless it really needed to end.

"Listen Lor, I didn't mean to tell you, I tried to keep it a secret I mean it's been so many years and I just," she was getting flustered now and she thanked god it was dark so Lor couldn't see her flushed face or shaking hands.

"I knew you liked Thompson, and I didn't want to create anything difficult for you and," 'wait what am I saying!?' she stopped herself, 'She just told me about her parent's rejection of her!' She shut her eyes, "Oh geez I'm so sorry about your parents Lor I'm so lucky to have mine be so kind and I can't imag-!" She was cut off by the feeling of two hands on her cheeks. She opened her eyes to see Lor was standing in front of her.

"Tish, what I was going to say was that you helped me feel better about myself," The athletic girl lowered her hands, "I get sad now and then still because every kid wants a good relationship with their folks and everything, but I also want to be able to be myself and...I don't know, you having the same feelings as me gave me some confidence in myself and I've at least stopped thinking there's something wrong with me."

She took a tentative step forward and looked up at the taller of the two. Tish looked down at her smiling slightly, "Really?" She asked. The blonde grinned and nodded, "Yeah man hahah, and I-I've, like, been thinking about stuff and, uh, I don't know lately I've been feeling different about you, like, when I see you get nervous around me it makes me happy. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about you, like, _a lot_ and, I don't know, now that I know for sure what your feelings are, I'm not scared to admit mine too!" She took yet another step forward, the distance between them now most definitely smaller than the usual space bubble.

Tish's heart was racing, her fingers trembling. She hated that her hands shook when she was nervous, they got sweaty and she hated being sweaty too. But Lor didn't seem to mind as she nervously laced her fingers with Tish's right hand and looked up at her friend. Inhale. Exhale.

"Um, I like you Tish," Lor smiled, "I like how confident you are in yourself and I like how loyal you are to your friends and your honestly and you're, like, _so_ pretty haha," The redhead cracked a smile as her face heat up even more. Lor continued, "I was really worried to accept that I liked you because like, what about the balance of the group, you know? What if you didn't like me back? That would've been so totally awkward I mean, right?"

Tish laughed, "Totally," Lor grinned once again and asked, "Um, can I, can I kiss...you, Tish?" The question made the skinnier girl's heart jump, if it hadn't been racing earlier it certainly was now. She became hyper-aware of everything that was happening, the feeling of Lor's fingers intertwined with hers, Lor's eager eyes holding onto her own, her left hand suddenly on lors shoulder, how truly beautiful Lor really was, and oh yeah! Lor's question. "Of course," she answered.

The shorter girl leaned up, tilting her head slightly so that their noses didn't bump and gently touched her lips to Tish's.

The feeling was electric.

Tish carefully took the hand resting on Lor's shoulder and raised it to her face. Hesitatingly, she wove her fingers through the soft blonde hair and found the shorter girl's jawline. Lor's left hand settled on the small of Tish's back and pulled her just enough to make Tish take a final step closer eliminating the space between them.

They were nervous and shaking when they pulled away. Lor's brown eyes found Tish's green and they both smiled. Tish leaned down again still holding Lor's hand and she clumsily pushed her lips to the athletic girl's once more. The kiss was shorter than the first but not any less nerve racking. Tish had never kissed someone before and with Lor initiating the other, it was quite the sensation to be the first to lean in.

When it ended Tish was met with those deep brown eyes once more and she couldn't help but let a grin spread across her mouth. Lor returned the gesture lifting Tish's hand to her lips. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "Hey Tish, do you think I could maybe take you on a date?"

For what seemed like the tenth time in the past five minutes, Tish's heart jumped, "Absolutely!" she answered. She glanced over her shoulder, "Let's text about it later though, we should get back to the boys." Lor laughed, "Oh man, I forgot you just _left_ them there!"

"I just think they're never coming back, I mean let's be realistic," Carver said, "Oh man! I win again!" Carver smirked at the skinny blonde across from him. Tino scowled, "Okay you distracted me that time, you _know_ I can't play speed when I'm talking to someone."

The two girls approached them, "Hey guys!" Tish called and before she and Lor even sat down Tino crossed his arms with a knowing look. He stared right at Tish, "You told her didn't you?"

Lor started, "But how can you even te-" "Well it's about time! T, you owe me 30 bucks I hope you know that," Carver interrupted smiling at Tino.

"Hey listen, we're happy for you guys. Tish we love you but we could tell you were not going to hold out until graduation haha and honestly? I'm just glad everything is fine between us," Tino said. Tish, Lor and Carver nodded in agreement. Shuffling the deck of cards Lor added, "You guys up for a game of Egyptian Rat Screw?" The question was rhetorical as the gang had already sat down waiting to be dealt in.

Things weren't exactly perfect, there were still the issues of college, family, and thousands of other problems plaguing the group of four, but in that moment, they felt as though nothing else mattered. After all, that's what the weekends are for.


End file.
